which continues till the dry weather begins in March ; by this time 

 another hay crop of one to one-and-a-half tons per acre can be cut 

 and cured. Light showers usually occur in March, enabling the 

 Teff crop to make an after-math which furnishes good pasturage, 

 even after it has been killed by frost. If weather, etc., do not per- 

 mit us to sow in October we can sow through January, and still 

 secure a good crop. 



As compared with Sweet-grass (Chloris virgata) hay, the more 

 rapid g;rowth, heavier crop per acre, and the possibility of cutting 

 three times in a season, put Teff ahead of Sweet-grass. 



As a hay-grass for India Mr. Duthie considered that Teff is 

 " destined to become the rye-grass of India, and is well worthy of 

 more extended trial on some of the Government fodder reserves." 

 (8 and 10.) 



In Australia very favourable reports on trials with Teif were 

 given, " the value of this plant for fodder purposes being con- 

 sidered exceptionally high." (10.) 



The high-feeding value of Teff hay is due in measure to the 

 large amount and nutritive value of the seed contained, and in 

 part to the fact that the hay is fine in texture, and, therefore, 

 easily and quickly cured if the weather is at all favourable. 



PALATABILITY. 



A very important feature in favour of Teff as a stock food is 

 the eagerness with which farm livestock of all kinds seek it out. 

 " Cattle, horses, sheep and pigs devour it eagerly. Several 

 breeders of blood horses have written me that they find it excellent 

 for young stock. A friend of mine, farming near Britten, declares 

 that his cattle will leave green lucerne for it, and I have a letter 

 from a prominent dairyman in the Witwatersrand district who avers 

 that his milk supply was increased at least 5 per cent, by feeding 

 his cows on Teff." (19.) Cows and oxen will leave their maize 

 stalks and silage for Teff-hay. 



Mr. J. F. Duthie reported, in 1888 (8), that at one of the hill 

 stations of India (Arnigadh) the hay made from Teff " was greedily 

 eaten by the garden bullocks. When it was offered to them they 

 were being fed upon jowar (i.e., Kaffir-corn) or sorghum stalks, and, 

 as is well known, these are remarkably sweet, and cattle, when fed 

 upon them, generally refuse other kinds of dry food until they find 

 that sorghum is not forthcoming. Our garden cattle, however, 

 seemed to prefer the Teff-hay to sorghum, as they would not touch 

 the latter until they had devoured the whole of the Teff placed 

 before them." 



ANALYSIS OF THE HAY. 



Analyses of Teff-hay were made by Mr. Herbert Ingle, F.I.C., 

 F.C.S., Chief Chemist of the Transvaal Department of Agricuiture, 

 in the year 1906-07. These show that good Teff-hay is richer in 

 protein (flesh-forming matter) than oat-hay or Boer manna hay, and 

 that the albuminoid ratio is much better balanced than in either. 

 But over-ripe, thrashed hay, may be deficient in protein as com- 

 pared with either oat-hay or Boer manna. There is less fat in Teff- 

 hay than in oat-hay. 



The following comparison is made from the figures supplied in 

 Mr. Ingle's report (17): — 



